Former N.C. scoutmaster admits he molested boys

By Web Exclusives

Published: Friday, October 26, 2012 at 08:13 AM.

In 1988, scout officials were informed by a prosecutor in Virginia that Bumgarner had pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery involving children and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but a judge suspended all but three years of the sentence.

After his release, records show Bumgarner returned to North Carolina in 1992, where he was convicted in Alamance County to indecent liberties with a child. He was released from prison after serving 2 years of a 5 year sentence.

Now 53, Bumgarner is a registered sex offender living in Fort Belvoir, Va.

(AP) — A former scoutmaster in North Carolina admits he molested as many as 10 boys in the early 1970s.

The file on Thomas J. Menghi Jr. is just one among thousands of pages on suspected abusers kept by the Boy Scouts of America and released under a recent court order.

He tells The Associated Press he was usually drunk when he had sex with boys in Troop 786 in Fayetteville.

He's now 69 years old and lives in Monroe, near Charlotte. He says he would like to apologize to his victims and fears going to jail.

Memos in Menghi's file from 1974 show other scout leaders contemplated whether to report the abuse to the police, but were directed not to by a national official.

Other cases:

For decades, the Boy Scouts of America kept thousands of secret "perversion files" about adult members of its organization who sexually abused children. About 14,500 pages of files compiled between 1959 and 1985 were made public last week by court order. Thousands more files for abuse cases after 1985 remain secret.

Twenty-one of the files made public involve cases in North Carolina, where there is no statute of limitations on prosecuting child sexual abuse. The Associated Press reviewed each file, but focused on cases where the perpetrator admitted guilt or was later convicted of sex crimes, often years later after more children had been abused:

— Edwin Loren Tenny was employed as a district scout executive with the Occoneechee Council in Raleigh in 1969, when other officials received reports that he had engaged in sex acts with numerous boys. A memo in Tenny's secret file signed by Scout Executive Wallace E. Wood said he and another official confronted Tenny and that he admitted having sex with the boys. Tenny was fired and barred from participating in scouting, but there is no indication he was reported to police.

Tenny, now 74 and living in Missouri, did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

— Thomas Benton Lewis was a leader of Cub Scout Pack 103 and Scout Troop 103 in Burlington in 1982 when the mother of a scout reported that her son had been molested by Lewis while spending the night at his apartment. In a letter included in Lewis' secret file, the mother wrote that she and her husband confronted Lewis and that he confessed he was "sick" and apologized. The boy and his parents also spoke about the abuse with their minister and a district court judge who was a member of their church, but there is no indication a police report was filed.

Lewis relocated to Whiteville, where he died in 1997 at age 60.

— William "Bill" H. Fisher was the scoutmaster of Troop 749 in Reidsville in 1981 when the father of a scout contacted officials to report that Fisher had sexually assaulted his son. In a letter, the father wrote that Fisher had become a close friend of the family and had lived in a trailer behind their home. When the boy's parents confronted Fisher about the abuse, the father wrote that the scoutmaster confessed and promised to seek treatment from a psychiatrist. A separate letter from the family's minister also says Fisher confessed during a private meeting at the First Congregational Christian Church.

Fisher, who also taught chemistry at a local high school, resigned and was barred from scouting. There is no indication the abuse was reported to police or officials at the school where Fisher worked. He died in 1997 at age 58.

— Mark Fleming Bumgarner was an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 262 in Lenoir in 1978 when the parent of a scout from Southern Pines reported that Bumgarner had fondled the boy while sitting beside a campfire at a summer camp. According to a memo in his confidential file, Bumgarner admitted he had given the boy a massage on the archery range because he appeared tense, but denied touching his genitals. In response, scout officials put Bumgarner on "probation."

The following year, Bumgarner was charged by Lenior police with two felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor involving two other scouts. It is not clear who reported the abuse to authorities, but the following day Bumgarner was suspended from scouting. Court records show he received a suspended sentence and was placed in probation.

In 1988, scout officials were informed by a prosecutor in Virginia that Bumgarner had pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery involving children and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but a judge suspended all but three years of the sentence.

After his release, records show Bumgarner returned to North Carolina in 1992, where he was convicted in Alamance County to indecent liberties with a child. He was released from prison after serving 2 years of a 5 year sentence.

Now 53, Bumgarner is a registered sex offender living in Fort Belvoir, Va.

— Rickey Martin Vernon was a scout leader with Troop 241 in Lexington in 1982 when he was accused of molesting multiple scouts at a Winston-Salem movie theater where he worked and other locations. According to his file, one incident involved two boys who said Vernon inducted them into a fictitious "Order of the Sword" where part of the initiation included showering and washing with him.

Vernon was barred from scouting, but there is no evidence he was reported to police.

Seven years later, criminal records show Vernon was convicted in Forsyth County on two counts of taking indecent liberties with minors. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but released on parole after serving 4 years. Now 59, Martin is listed as a registered sex offender in North Carolina.

—Roy Lindsay Case was a scoutmaster with Troop 103 in Summerfield in 1972. A scout signed a typed statement saying Case had invited him to a drive-in movie and later returned to the scoutmaster's home, where he was shown pornography. Later that night, the boy said Case climbed into the bed where he was sleeping and made sexual advances. The scout said other boys in the troop had similar experiences when alone with Case.

Case's named was added to the confidential list at Boy Scout headquarters, but there is no indication the police were called.

In 2001, Guilford County sheriff's deputies investigating a break-in at Case's home found child pornography, according to a report from News & Record of Greensboro. Under questioning, Case later confessed to numerous sexual assaults spanning more than 30 years.

State criminal records show he pleaded guilty to four counts of statutory sex offense, two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation and four counts of indecent liberties with a child. Now 66, he is in a North Carolina prison serving a nearly 20-year sentence.

— Michael Steven Clapp was scoutmaster of Troop 77 in High Point in 1984 when the mother of a scout reported that he had molested her son during a trip to Washington, D.C. When confronted by other scout leaders, Clapp admitted he had behaved inappropriately and submitted a resignation letter, citing the increasing demands of his position with the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. There is no indication he was reported to police at that time.

Eight years later, 1992, criminal records show Clapp was convicted of indecent liberties with a child and felony sexual offense in the second degree. He served six years in prison. Now 62, Clapp is listed on the N.C. Sex Offender Registry as living in Kernersville.